


Standard Issue

by itslaurenmae



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Arguing, F/M, Jealousy, Post-Canon, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Pregnancy, Reylo babies, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-21 16:29:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13744872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itslaurenmae/pseuds/itslaurenmae
Summary: It's a year after Rey and Ben fought in Snoke's throne room, eight months since the fall of the First Order, and three weeks into their marriage the first time they fight about it.It's three months after the first fight that it comes up again.He knows she's right... it's ridiculous. He, the former Supreme Leader, a powerful Force-user, jealous?And of what? A simple, arrogant, cock-sure fly boy? With rogue-ish good-looks and a wry sense of humor...Poe made everyone smile.Everyone except Ben.Poe did not make Ben smile, Poe made Ben scowl.





	Standard Issue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Limra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Limra/gifts).



> Hello, and happy Valentine's Day Reylo Exchange! Apologies in advance for the length; I kind of got carried away but didn't want to cut anything! Thank you for requesting this prompt, and for giving me an excuse to write some domestic/familial goodness for our favorite space couple. 
> 
> Enjoy!

"You can't be serious," Rey said in disbelief. Her eyes were full of disappointment; the same disappointment Ben sensed when he asked her to join him and abandon the remnant of the Resistance.

It was nearly a year later, eight months since the end of the First Order, and three weeks into their marriage when they first argued about this. So many things had shifted and changed, the status quo upended - a new era of peace for the galaxy - and here was Ben, upset about how much time she spent with Poe Dameron.

“Get some perspective, Ben.”

He turned away from her, trying to hide the shame he felt. Obviously, he'd been serious.

"I see the way he looks at you," Ben huffed, his back still to her as he ran his hands through his hair.

“You have to know I don’t see him the same way.”

Rey rose from the couch in their shared quarters, picked up her bag, and grabbed her staff. “I’m going to be in the garden training if you want to join me.”

He watched her walk out the front door of their apartment, a sight he’d grown to love, but this time, he didn’t feel good about watching her leave. He let her have a head start, puttering about the living room collecting his gear.

The space itself wasn't anything special, just standard-issue living quarters like any other newly married couple on the base. It was humble - at least it was to Ben - humble was a more subjective term for Rey.

She thought it was perfect; a new couch, a set of matching chairs, an actual kitchen with electricity, a fresher with two sinks, and of course, their room. She loved it. It was homey without being plain, snug without being uncomfortable. At least, that's how it felt to her. Ben felt cramped, his head hardly two inches below each door frame. Rey looked like she fit - he felt gawky.

He'd gotten used to the clean lines, stark colors, and sleek fabrics that came with being Supreme Leader; everything angular and sharp - all corners and ridges. This apartment was nothing like that.

He kept those thoughts to himself and decided not to complain about it to Rey after he saw the look on her face the first time they'd walked inside.

Her eyes lit up like she was seeing something absolutely marvelous, gaping at each room with awestruck wonder. She'd opened all the cabinets in the kitchen, sat on every chair, pulled every window shade up. Then, she went to check out the fresher.

"Ben! Did you see the fresher?! There's two sinks! Two sinks!" She was giddy, her eyes wide with childlike wonder, her voice bright and warm. It melted his hardened heart right where he stood, looking out the window over the training field.

Of course she'd find this standard-issue apartment magnificent. Compared to where she'd lived before... this was practically a palace. He'd seen in her mind the hovel she'd called home on Jakku, the bare-bones hut she'd stayed in on Ahch-To. These chambers reminded Ben a bit of Stormtrooper barracks on First Order bases; no-nonsense, practical. Nothing was particularly colorful - everything in greys and shades of off-white. It wasn't going to stay this way if he had anything to say about it.

He crossed to her from the window, smiling down at her warmly. He cupped her bright face in his hands and kissed her on the forehead. "And one of them is all yours."

Before giving her the time to respond, he swept her into his arms, holding her as close as he could without hurting her.

Rey was going to make a smart remark, but softened instead, smiling into his kiss. Sometimes, she was surprised by how affectionate he could be. Not that she wasn't aware of his capacity for emotion; after all, she'd seen the worst of his fury, borne the depths of his despair, felt the same pangs of loneliness he had in her own body. Touch-starved was the word that came to mind when she thought about Ben. And when touching someone felt as good as he did, well, who was she to deprive him anymore?

She threw her arms around his neck and pushed herself onto her tiptoes, closing her eyes to get lost in him - how he smelled, feeling the way his hair was growing out again, feeling the warmth of his skin. He was everything. They were everything.

Even on her tip-toes, Ben had to crane down a bit to properly kiss her. He didn't mind.

He let her run her hands through his hair before wrapping one arm around her, hoisting her up onto his hips. She fitted to him so easily, so fluidly, like a current in a stream. Her legs around his waist felt like home. They forgot to breathe as they kissed more deeply, taking quick, sharp inhales when one or the other remembered to come up for air. It was like they were trying to steal every single possible second of connection, even though the other was freely, freely giving.

Rey felt the heat rush to Ben's neck and ears as she nipped at his bottom lip, her own breath growing ragged and inconsistent. She didn't even think to look around their new room as he walked them over the threshold, his steps firm, steady, certain. She didn't notice the curtains or the note that this was the largest bed she'd ever been in as he lowered them to the mattress, moving his hands to her hips. All she saw was Ben, all she needed was Ben. Nothing else mattered.

She'd been able to properly inspect their room afterwards.

That first day in their new home had been nearly three months ago. The first fight was weeks behind them now, but another was inevitable.

Rey did think it nice to have someone to sleep next to at night, but she had never lived with anyone before and found it... odd. Relentless. She loved Ben and he loved her, and she was glad they were together, but did he really have to be here all the time? Did his suspicion and his jealousy have to come with his passion and devotion?

The answer was yes.

He'd stepped so swiftly into his new role as advisor to the new Resistance leadership; it had taken him exactly one day to set up a desk in the far corner of their common room, a makeshift study. She came home from days exploring to find him hunched over stacks of paper, scribbling away, reading very funny-looking old books. Sometimes she came home to find him doing pushups on the floor, still fully dressed in council regalia.

"You need to get outside more," she'd say as she hugged him from behind and kissed the space between his shoulderblades. She loved the expanse of his back.

He wouldn't always stop what he was doing to greet her, but did always look up to acknowledge her. "Not right now, love," he'd respond, taking her hands in his and kissing the crown of her head.

Rey needed the sunlight to feel alive. Staying inside, going to meetings, talking diplomacy and strategy for hours... that just wasn't ever going to be her thing. She could hardly bear the meetings she was required to attend it as it was. So it wasn't a surprise to anyone that Rey spent a lot of time outside, training in the gardens or working in the hangar with the fleet's pilots, talking amongst them, tagging along on their supply runs when she not piloting her own craft.

And so, she ended up spending a lot of time with Poe Dameron, the fleet's best pilot. Since they met on Crait, Poe and Rey had struck up an amiable friendship. They shared a love of flying, a thirst for adventure, and had the same unquenchable drive to be outdoors, in the sun, in the open air. Poe held Rey in high regard for her power, her strength under pressure, and Rey respected Poe’s determination and instincts. He was a fantastic pilot, and she was a superior navigator, so no one batted an eye when they partnered up for recon missions.

No one except for Ben.

And so, here they were, fighting about it. Again.

It was hardly the first time they'd argued about Poe, but Rey really wanted it to be the last. Ben had never fully given into his rage when they had words about the time she spent with Poe, but that didn't mean she couldn't sense it boiling below the surface.

"I can't believe you still think that I'd be interested in him," she shot at him, voice faltering. Her sharp words made him feel guilty. "How many times do I have to tell you that we're just partners? The way your dad and Chewie were partners. We work well together, we're a good team."

"I hate it when you say 'we' when you talk about him."

"Ben, be serious."

"I am serious!" He didn't mean to raise his voice, but it happened anyway. "I'm dead serious! Because you're all I have!"

"And you think it's not the same for me? You know me better than that," she said defiantly, sternly crossing her arms across her chest and scowling up at him.

"You, better than anyone, should know how much I've always wanted a family, how lonely I've been... you can't think that I'd be so foolish as to walk away from this, from you... and for someone like Poe on top of that."

"You did walk away from this," he said under his breath, but still loud enough for her to hear.

"That's not fair, Ben. This is hardly the same thing."

"Maybe to you it isn't! You're not the one who woke up on the floor, alone."

"No, I'm sorry," she sassed, shifting her weight underneath her. "I decided to think about someone besides myself for once." It wasn't a fair comment, and as soon as she said it, she wanted to take it back.

Ben glared back at her, the heat of his anger rising with each breath.

"We've been over this, Ben. I'm not rehashing this with you anymore. You know me. You know me, better than anyone, and I won't keep defending myself to you. That was part of..." she motioned at the space between them, "part of making this official. We said in our vows that we would accept and respect each other - past, present, and future. I've forgiven you for the things you did, the people you killed," - he winced - "the pain you caused me. I've never once doubted your commitment since we said those words. But you... it seems like you want reasons to doubt me with each passing day. I can't bear it, Ben."

She was right... it was ridiculous. He, the former Supreme Leader, a powerful Force-user, jealous? And of what? A simple, arrogant, cock-sure fly boy? With rogue-ish good-looks and wry sense of humor... Poe made everyone smile. 

Everyone except Ben.

Poe did not make Ben smile, Poe made Ben scowl.

Rey's voice snapped him back into reality.

"I won't come home every night and feel I have to prove to you how much I love you, Ben. That's not what I want for us, for our family." Her tone was somber, each word spoken with perfect conviction.

He knew she was dead-serious. She wouldn't tolerate his suspicion anymore, especially when his rational mind told him that she was telling him the truth; that she didn't want Poe Dameron the way she wanted him, and that she was and always would be true to him.

It took him a moment to process the second thing she'd said... _That's not what I want for us, for our family…_

"Our family?" he said. He hadn't thought about it that way, not in those terms, anyway. She was His and he was Hers and that was that. They'd said the words, they'd made their vows - they were married, they were husband and wife - and yet he hadn't considered them to be their own family unit. He'd been so caught up in exploration strategy and planning and politics and his own misdirected jealousy - he'd neglected to act like her spouse.

"Yes," Rey said, clenching her jaw. "That's what we are, are we not? We said the words, we took the vows." She wouldn’t budge, standing stalwart in front of him, not allowing him to avoid her any longer.

"You're right,” he said, reaching to tuck a few strands of fallen hair behind her ear. “I've been… remiss."

"This isn't a council session, Ben."

He couldn't help it, being formal came naturally.

She kicked herself again as soon as she'd said it, well-aware he was being genuine.

He wasn't interested in sparring, so he let it fade. "I don't want you to feel like you have to earn anything with me." He took her hands in his. "This is your home, this is where you should be safe. You shouldn't have to be on the defensive here."

Their shared feelings of vulnerability mingled in the air as she looked up to him, eyes glassy.

"I'm not good at living with people," he said.

"Neither am I," she joked, sniffling.

"Well, we’re doomed," he grinned, kissing her hands. "The disgraced dark lord and the dusty scavenger girl."

"Totally hopeless," she smiled back, holding his hands up to her face, brushing her cheek against the back of them.

"No," he said, looking down into her eyes. "Hope lives. You’re the one that made me believe that."

She didn't say anything back at first, just listened to the steady cadence of his heart beating. "You don't have anything to worry about, about me walking away or anything," she finally said. "I've just been thinking a lot about family lately, and - "

"I know," he interrupted, attempting to pull his hands away so he could wrap his arms around her.

"No, no," she shook her head. "Just... just stop talking for a second," she said, playful but serious. "Listen to what I'm trying to tell you, Ben."

He gulped, worried that she was about to say something scary.

"I'm thinking so much about family lately because well, because we're going to be one. I mean, we are one, me and you, but, uh..." this wasn't going as smoothly as she'd hoped.

He searched her face, quizzically at first... and then it dawned on him.

"It's not going to be just me and you, is it?" He said it less like a question and more like a fact.

Rey let out a huge sigh of relief. "Yes, I mean, no? I mean," she backpedaled, trying to recollect herself.

"Are you trying to tell me you're pregnant?" He lowered his face to look her straight in the eyes.

She blinked back at him. "Yes, actually. I was. Yes. I... how did you know?"

"I sensed it, just now, when I took your hand, standing here. Something felt... different. I thought it was your breathing at first, that you were tired or sick, but... now..." he trailed off, looking down at her stomach. It was still flat, but he didn't care. He rested his free hand tenderly on her belly.

"Well, I am tired, and I am sick," she attempted to joke through a wave of emotion. " _Because_ I'm pregnant." She sniffled again, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Rey," he said, his own eyes full of wonder. At her, at him, at the thought of their child. He rested his forehead against hers, unable form any other words.

"Ben." She said his name with relief.

"A baby," he said, taking her face in his hands.

She nodded. "Yeah, a baby."

"Our baby." He kissed her then, and she didn't pull away.

 


End file.
